Mexico: In Tulum, Dia de los Muertos festival focuses on food

Chefs will lead the third annual Dia de los Muertos Food Workshop in Tulum, Mexico, Oct. 29-Nov. 4.

Chefs will lead the third annual Dia de los Muertos Food Workshop in Tulum, Mexico, Oct. 29-Nov. 4. (Casa de las Olas)

Rosemary McClure

They’ll be cooking up something special on the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos in Tulum, Mexico, where the holiday will be celebrated with a six-day food festival and workshop.

Despite its gloomy-sounding name, Dia de los Muertos is celebrated joyfully with food and drink in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Typically, family members and friends invite their deceased loved ones to return for an annual visit during the holiday, Nov. 1 and 2, cooking special foods and placing them on makeshift altars in homes and cemeteries to entice the spirits of the dead to return.

The third-annual event will consist of farm-to-table Mexican cooking courses held in a wood- and solar-operated outdoor Tulum restaurant kitchen and modern indoor restaurant kitchen. Sustainable practices will be emphasized.

The workshop includes a six-night stay in beachfront accommodations at Casa de las Olas, along with cooking classes led by chefs Eric Werner of Hartwood restaurant and Claudia Perez Rivas of Cetli restaurant.

The chefs will focus on grilling techniques, mole and other Mexican dishes. There will also be a mescal tasting and other Dia de los Muertos celebrations and meals.

"Both Cetli and Hartwood restaurants embody the sustainable ethos that Casa de las Olas lives by," said James Greenfield of Casa de las Olas. “We are happy to share it with like-minded travelers and foodies.”